Monday, June 26, 2017

Crops Update

It was three weeks ago that I shared pictures of the spring crops emerging.  I'm following these crops over the summer to watch how they grow until harvest.  Most of these are easy to identify, but the various spring grains all still just look the same.  We'll see as the season unfolds.

The Corn is growing fast, thanks in part to all the rain we've had - although eventually it will need some heat!  In places the plants are 18" high.  Remember, a clean field like this means it has been thoroughly sprayed to keep down weeds.  Most of these crops are probably GMO crops.

The Winter Wheat is looking good, almost showing a touch of yellow.  The grain has tassled, though it too could use some heat in the next month for the grains to mature.  This will be the first of the grain crops harvested.

Soybeans are filling in well.  They don't get planted until after the danger of frost, and will be one of the later crops harvested in the fall.

And I finally found a field of canola to follow.  It's a Brassica, a member of the same family as cabbage and radish, and it looks like it at this early stage.

And here's a new one on me, a field of spring grains and peas.  I noticed the farmer leaning against his tractor deep in conversation, so I stopped to ask.  He said the mixture here is Oats and Barley, with the Peas added for protein, and it will probably be cut and baled while the grain is still immature, for forage used as cattle feed.  Thanks for an email after the last post which put me on the right track.

There are lots of fields which still look just like luxurious grass coming up to me.  They could be Barley, Oats, or Spring Wheat, but I'm going to have to wait to tell which.  For now, they look they're doing well after all our rain.

Not everywhere is doing well though.  We've had so much rain here that farmers couldn't get on some fields until late; those crops are only emerging now.  And in some fields the wet conditions have prevented spraying, which causes other problems.  Here's hoping the season balances out for all these crops.  Next update in about 3 weeks.

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16 comments:

  1. Love seeing those lines of crops!

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  2. Corn, soybeans, and winter wheat are grown here in Mississippi, too, but I have never seen grain and peas grown together. Very interesting!
    The other main crop grown here in the southern US is cotton.

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  3. I like to see the crops all in rows.
    The corn in my area is doing well. We've had lots of rain but lots of sun too.

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  4. I am so glad you are doing this...I will be learning at least a couple things I have wanted to know for a long time...maybe. I have wanted to see what oats looks like forever. There is another one...but can't think now.

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  5. Wonderful shots of the field. It is soothing to see such green fields.

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  6. We've been having a drought although it is so dark this morning that may end today. When we drive through Champagne we are always fascinated that the crops we see are cabbage or sugar beet. Never a sign of a vine. Do you suppose the secret of champagne is sugar beet?

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  7. The weeds have actually slowed down in my garden, getting most of that gout weed destroyed, finally!

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  8. I will enjoy watching these crops comes to harvest. It's a great idea to do this. You come up with some rather unusual blogs, which I truly appreciate. Thanks for doing this! :-)

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  9. Aren't all those green fields lovely?

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  10. Amazing how fast things grow ONCE Spring gets here ---and the growth begins.... Love it....

    This is my year to love GREENS (after our horrible drought last year) ---so your greens made me smile.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  11. Spray galore for sure. We have a friend who grows wheat for the flour mill, he had to spray the ground before the seeds were sewn, or he would not get a contract. And I guess continue as the plants grew. This is wonderful to share the progress with you, thanks for all pics and close-ups. Many years ago my Dad grew peas for the firm who then processed and sold them in tins, this was in the 1930's and 1940's!!! He had the whole pea plant cut off at ground level , then onto a trailer, and we went to the pea factory about 25 minutes from our place. There was a machine called a "pea viner" that separated the pods, and with a flailing system, shook the peas out!!! According to old archives, this cost 1500 pounds in about 1939!!! I wonder how they harvest them today, and sell frozen.

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  12. Great idea to capture the progress of the fields!

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  13. Interesting to see the growth over time!

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  14. WoW!! amazing how quickly those crops grow!!!

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  15. That's interesting about the oats, barley, and peas mixture in that field.

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